


Revelations in Pain

by cfo_absolute



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Character Death, F/F, Gen, Lena Luthor Finds Out Kara Danvers is Supergirl, So don't hate me, but like...it's not permanent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-16 21:55:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13062927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cfo_absolute/pseuds/cfo_absolute
Summary: Kara Danvers is "dead", something happens and Lena carries Supergirl's body out of the wreckage and learns Kara is supergirl when Alex yells KARA when she sees Lena carrying the body





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [offscreenmusings](https://archiveofourown.org/users/offscreenmusings/gifts).



> Okay, so I wrote the first prompt and then I went to just do a little thing for this one and it kinda got away from me and turned into an angst filled, 2 chapter, trainwreck (with a happy ending I swear). I REALLY loved writing this one so I hope you enjoy reading it just as much. Merry Christmas!

The lights twinkled around the room during L Corp’s annual holiday party, just a few days before Christmas. Lena leaned against the wall, smiling as she watched her employees dancing and laughing and drinking. The company had been through hell over the past year and god knows her staff deserved the break.

Lena jumped slightly as she felt a warm body push against her side. She turned to see bright, blue eyes shining back at her. “Kara! You made it!”

 

Kara smiled as she leaned in to hug Lena. “A personal invitation from the CEO to the L Corp holiday party? How could I say no?”

 

“Well, I couldn’t show up without my plus one, now could I?” Lena smirked as she pressed a kiss to Kara’s cheek. 

 

Kara beamed. She and Lena had been dating, officially dating as opposed to pinning over each other in tortured, obvious silence, for a little over a month. It was their first event as a couple. Kara had been hesitant, but Lena had been insistent. Kara was hers and she didn’t care who knew. And looking at Lena now, Kara couldn’t bring herself to care either. 

 

“You look incredible.” Kara said, taking in Lena’s dress. She couldn’t help but notice the plunging neckline, the shimmering black fabric creating a stark, delicious contrast to Lena’s pale skin.

 

Lena felt herself blushing as Kara’s eyes roamed over her body. “So do you.” She looked up to see Kara’s eyes glued to the slit in her dress, one that stopped high up on her thigh, just short of being risque. She was caught between being embarrassed and loving the way she could see Kara’s breathing quicken at the sight of her body. “Kara, you’re staring.” She murmured.

 

“Oh, um-” Kara’s eyes snapped up to Lena’s. Nervous fingers pushed her glasses further up her nose. “Sorry.”

 

Lena smiled. “Do you want a drink?” Kara nodded and Lena walked away just long enough to grab two glasses of red wine from a tray at the end of the nearest table. She returned to find Kara’s eyes wandering again. “Do you want to take a picture? It’ll last longer.” She said, smirking over the rim of her wineglass as she handed one to Kara.

 

Kara’s face flushed bright red at being caught staring, yet again. “I’m sorry. It’s just… You really do look stunning.”

 

Lena ducked her her, eyes finding the floor as she blushed again. “Thank you. I picked this dress out with you in mind.”

 

Kara raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

 

Lena didn’t answer. She just flashed a dimpled smile Kara’s way, enjoying the flush she saw painting Kara’s cheeks and chest.

 

“Miss Luthor, do you need anything?” Jess’s voice broke the silence between them as Lena answered with a laugh.

 

“Jess, I told you. You’re not working tonight.” Lena said, sounding a bit exasperated despite the warm smile on her face. 

 

Jess shrugged. “I know, but I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

 

Lena rolled her eyes at her assistant. “Jess, please. Enjoy yourself. Don’t worry about me.” She slid her arm around Kara’s waist. “Besides, I have Kara with me tonight. She’ll take care of me.”

 

Jess walked away, somewhat reluctantly, but smiling. 

 

“I’ll take care of you?” Kara asked, with another raised eyebrow. 

 

Lena pouted up at her. “You will, won’t you?”

 

“Always.”

 

Lena was just leaning up for a proper kiss, when an explosion rocked the building. She reached out for Kara, but at the same time the windows blew inward, glass spraying across the crowd, and Lena instinctively threw her hands up to cover her face. By the time she lowered her hands the room was filled with smoke and debris. She didn’t see Kara, but she couldn’t make out anyone, really. 

 

Had Kara left her? No, that couldn’t be right.

 

Before Lena had the chance to put much thought into it, a strong hand grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around. “Supergirl?”

 

“Are you alright?” The hero asked, her eyes searching over Lena’s body for injuries. 

 

“I’m fine.” Lena found herself having to yell over the chaos surrounding them. “But Kara, she’s- She was right here. I can’t find her.”

 

Something flashed across Supergirl’s face, but Lena couldn’t tell what it was. Fear? Guilt, maybe? But again, Lena was prevented from finishing her train of thought. This time, it was the sound of tires and boots crunching over the glass coating the floor. 

 

“Lena Luthor!”

 

Lena turned to face the voice. She didn’t recognize the man or his uniform. He stood just inside of what used to be a window, flanked by a small crowd of masked soldiers and armoured vans.

 

“Surrender yourself to us and we won’t kill your entire staff.” He looked around at the carnage the first explosion had caused. “Well, anymore of them, that is.”

 

“She’s not going anywhere.” Kara placed herself between Lena and the man, her jaw and fists both clenched tight in rage. Lena breathed a tiny sigh of relief. Supergirl would take care of him. Everything was going to be fine.

 

The man laughed. The sound made Lena’s stomach roll. “Supergirl! I should have known you’d be here.” He held his hand out to the person standing closest to him. “I admire your bravery, but I’m afraid to tell you that it’s all in vain. I’m taking her.”

 

“You want her, you’re gonna have to go through me.” Kara growled. 

 

The man grinned wide and Lena’s stomach lurched again. “Gladly.” He took the gun being offered to him, leveled it at Kara, and fired. 

 

Kara barely had time to register the brilliant, green flash of the gun before the bullet struck her chest. The pain shot through her body as she collapsed to the floor, unable to move. She coughed once, twice. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.

 

Kryptonite. 

 

“NO!” Lena shot forward just in time to catch Kara before she hit the ground. “No, no, no…” She pushed a shaky hand to the wound in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding. She tried to ignore the streaks of green painting themselves over the hero’s pale face. “Supergirl, no, please…”

 

Police sirens sounded in the distance. The man looked disappointed more than anything. “On second thought,” He handed the weapon off to one of his men. “Take the whole place down. I get paid for a dead Luthor too.”

 

Lena was vaguely aware of the sound of tires over glass repeating itself as the assailants retreated, but she couldn’t ignore the sound of another explosion and the rumbling as the building ripped itself apart. 

 

_ We have to get out. _

 

Lena glanced around for help, but everyone else was too preoccupied with their own escape to notice. Where was Kara? Unable to wait any longer, Lena crouched down and, after kicking her heels off, tugged the unconscious hero up until she could flip her over her shoulder. She struggled to keep her balance under Kara’s dead weight. Chunks of concrete crashed to the floor around them. Lena had to backtrack several times after finding her exit blocked by fallen pieces of her building. 

 

It seemed like forever before fresh air hit her lungs. The crisp, winter air hit her body and Lena almost collapsed in relief. They’d made it out. But the building was still falling and Lena knew she needed to put as much distance between them and the wreckage as she could. She could hear police sirens, louder, and shouts just beyond the veil of smoke in front of her. 

 

“Lena!”

 

Lena knew that voice. “Alex! Help me, please!” She fell to her knees, bringing the still bleeding superhero into her lap.

 

Alex appeared as the smoke cleared, Maggie at her side. “Lena! It’s okay. We’re gonna- KARA!

 

_ Kara? _

 

Alex dropped down beside her, her hands flying over Kara’s body in search of any injuries beside the one that had left her chest all but ripped open. “What happened?”

 

Lena didn’t answer. She couldn’t speak.

 

“Lena!” Alex shouted. Her eyes were wide with fear. “What happened?”

 

“He shot her.” Lena said, her voice shaking. Kara? “W-Whatever it was was laced with Kryptonite.”

 

Alex wasn’t paying attention to her anymore. “It’s okay, Kara. I’ve got you. You’re okay.” Her voice was steady despite the tears streaming down her face. She turned to Maggie. “Help me get her in the van.”

 

“Alex, I think we should-“

 

“Maggie, just help me! Please!”

 

Maggie bent down to move Kara, her fingers curling around her neck to lift her head. She stopped, her stomach dropping. “Alex… she doesn’t have a pulse.”

 

Lena gasped in pain as her brain registered the words. 

 

“No…” Alex said. The steadiness gone from her voice, replaced by a panicked tremble. “No, we have to… She has to…” 

 

“Alex, she’s gone.” Maggie put her hand on Alex’s shoulder as the other woman collapsed against her. 

 

Lena stared down at Kara’s blank, pale face. How had she not seen it before? The same golden hair. The same deep, blue eyes. The same melodic, ringing laugh. The air rushed from Lena’s lungs as she realized she would never hear that laugh again. 

 

Backup arrived eventually. How much time had passed, Lena couldn’t say though. It felt like hours that she spent on the ground, cradling Kara’s lifeless body in her lap. The only sounds were the sirens and Alex’s cries as she wept, her hands fisted in the dirty material of Kara’s cape. 

 

It took three agents to pull Alex away from Kara’s body. She only let go when Maggie promised to stay with her, promised to make sure her little sister was taken care of. 

 

Lena let go without a fight. She couldn’t move. She didn’t move until she felt warm hands guiding her up to stand. “Winn?”

 

Winn gave her a weak, glassy eyed smile. “Let’s get you out of here.”

 

“Winn, tell me it’s not true.” She said. Her voice sounded cracked and harsh and foreign in her ears. “Tell me it’s not her. Tell me that’s not Kara.”

 

Winn didn’t say anything as he guided Lena to the back of a DEO SUV. Lena let herself be buckled in, holding tight to Winn’s hand as he slid in beside her. They rode in silence for four blocks. 

 

“She didn’t want you to find out like this.” 

 

Lena turned to look at Winn, who was frowning down at his lap. “What?”

 

“Kara.” He explained. “She was going to tell you after Christmas. She didn’t want- She couldn’t keep lying to you. She wanted you to know the truth in case something… in case something ever happened to her.”

 

Lena let out a bitter laugh. How ironic that she found out because something  _ had _ happened. She thought she should be angry. Kara had been lying to her for months. But all she could think about was the emptiness in Kara’s eyes as she had held her in the middle of the street. She would never get the chance to be angry with Kara for lying because Kara was gone.

 

Kara was dead. 

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I told you there was a happy ending.

Days passed before Lena could be coerced into leaving her bed. Even then she only went as far as the couch in her living room, listening indifferently as Winn made coffee in her kitchen. She looked up at him with disinterested eyes as he pushed a warm mug into her hand.

 

“Lena, are you listening to me?”

 

He was smiling. Why was he smiling? The city’s hero, the love of her life, his best friend was dead. What the fuck could there possibly be to smile about?

 

“Lena, she has a heartbeat.”

 

The mug slid out of Lena’s hands, clattering to the coffee table as she looked up at Winn’s grinning face. “What?”

 

He nodded. They both ignored the coffee dripping from the table onto the hardwood below. “She’s still unconscious, but she has a heartbeat. They have her in a sunbed at the DEO.”

 

Lena’s heart clenched painfully in her chest. If Kara didn’t make it this time… If she lost her again… “Can I see her?” She asked. The question came out of her mouth before she had even finished thinking it. 

 

Winn nodded again. “After you eat something.” He said. “Kara would kill me if I let you starve yourself.”

 

Lena wolfed down a sandwich. She wasn’t hungry and she barely tasted it, but if that was what stood between her and Kara then she’d eat a hundred bland sandwiches. The ride to the DEO was long, longer than Lena could stand. She spent the entire trip bouncing her leg, crossing and uncrossing her arms despite Winn’s assurances. The moment the car stopped, Lena was out the door, stopping only when she realized that she didn’t know where she was going. The last time she’d been here was the night Kara had been shot and she hadn’t exactly been in the best state of mind. 

 

They rounded a corner and came to the med bay where Kara was being held. The bright lights of the sun bed washed her out, making her look even more pale. The monitor standing next to the bed emitted a steady beeping, the only indication that Kara was alive. Lena hovered in the doorway. 

 

“You can come in.” Alex smiled from the other side of Kara’s bed. 

 

Lena inched her way in. “She’s alive?” Her voice cracked.

 

Alex nodded with a small smile.

 

“How?”

 

“Her body started to heal itself after they removed the last traces of Kryptonite.” Alex explained. Her hand was wrapped tight around Kara’s. “Then this morning her heart started beating.” Alex laughed as if she couldn’t really believe it.

 

Neither could Lena. She moved closer to the bed and stared down at Kara. A ventilator was breathing for her, but her heart was beating on its own. “And she’ll wake up?” Lena steeled herself for the ‘maybe’ or the ‘we don’t know’, but it never came.

 

“We think so.” Alex said. “It’s just a matter of letting her body heal itself.” 

 

The next few days were easier. Lena never left Kara’s side. Neither Alex. They barely spoke, both of them too focused in on the readings coming from the machine’s measuring Kara’s vitals. Maggie floated in and out of the room, every time dropping a kiss to Alex’s temple and a squeeze to Lena’s shoulder. Winn, James, and J’onn took turns bringing food that Alex and Lena hardly touched. 

 

The afternoon of the fourth day, Alex and Lena sat on either side of Kara’s bed, typing on their respective tablets. Alex went over her research on cellular regeneration, hoping to come up with an way to speed up Kara’s healing process while Lena resigned herself to the pages and pages of the non-disclosure agreement she’d been sent. It was the only way they’d  allow her to stay with Kara. It was over a hundred pages. Lena sighed and rubbed her eyes behind her glasses, having given up on her contacts a couple days before. At least it was a digital copy. 

 

The stillness of the room was broken as the machines monitoring Kara’s vitals went wild. Both women shot out of their seats, not caring as their tablets fell to the floor. 

 

“Alex, what’s happening?” Lena asked frantically. 

 

Alex’s hands flew over the screens on the monitors as she tried to find the problem. “I-I don’t know! Her heart rate is all over the place, but she’s-“

 

“LENA!”

 

Both women jumped back as Kara shot straight up, pulling the machines and monitors from the wall in a shower of sparks. 

 

Lena didn’t move as she stared into the wide, open eyes of the woman she loved. “Kara?” Her feet seemed to move of their own accord and she found herself back at Kara’s side. “Hey, it’s okay. You’re okay.” Her hands tentatively reached out toward Kara, unsure of the state she was in. 

 

“You’re here?” Kara’s voice was rough from days of disuse. 

 

“I am.” Lena nodded. “Alex is here too.”

 

Kara turned her head to the other side of her bed to look at Alex. Her whole body ached. Every sound seemed to bounce off the walls of her skull. She frowned. “My head hurts.”

 

Alex let out a choked laugh. She reached up to switch off the alarm, plunging the room back into relative silence. “How do you feel?”

 

“My head hurts.” Kara said again. 

 

Lena laughed. She reached out and took Kara’s hand in hers. “Seriously, how do you feel? We thought we’d lost you.”

 

Kara looked down at her body as if she was trying to decide how she felt. “I’m okay. What happened?”

 

Alex sat on the edge of the bed, taking Kara’s other hand. She glanced up into the doorway and noticed the small crowd of people standing in the hall. Subtly, she signaled for them to wait. She didn’t want to overwhelm Kara. “What do you remember?”

 

Kara frowned as she thought. “Um… The party and Lena and then the windows blew out and-“ She stopped as a look of pained realization crossed her face. If she was shot and Lena was here… “Rao, Lena, I’m so sorry. I wanted to tell you. I was going to tell you.”

 

Lena smiled sadly and shushed her. “It’s okay, sweetheart.” She bent forward to kiss the back of Kara’s hand. “It’s alright. All that matters is that you’re here. You’re okay. Because I thought- I thought…” She trailed off, unable to bring herself to finish the sentence. That was a thought she never wanted to have again. 

 

Kara let Alex fuss over her, checking her vitals. Eventually Alex left to get new equipment, to replace the things that Kara had ripped out of the wall. 

 

“I’m sorry that I put you through this.” Kara said once Alex had gone. “And I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you.”

 

“I should have figured it out on my own, really.” Lena said with a smile. “The odds that two people have eyes  _ that _ blue are nearly impossible.”

 

Kara laughed. She winced as pain shot through her chest. “Are you mad I didn’t tell you?”

 

Lena shook her head. “The woman I love just came back from the dead. How could I possible be mad?”

 

Kara’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Love?”

 

Smiling, Lena realized what she had said. It was true. She wouldn’t deny it. “She says with surprise in her voice for some reason.” 

 

“I love you too.” 

 

Lena tightened her grip on Kara’s hand and scooted closer. “Then promise me one thing.”

 

“Anything.”

 

“No more secrets.” Lena pleaded. “If anything ever happened to you…” She tried in vain to keep the tears welling up in her eyes from falling. “I at least need to know where you are.”

 

“No more secrets.” Kara repeated. 

 

Lena left it at that. Nothing more needed to be said. Eventually they would need to have a talk, to work through the new aspect of their relationship the new honesty would bring, but now was not the time. For now Lena was content to sit there, holding Kara’s hand and feel her steady pulse. For now that was enough. 

 


End file.
